To Mend A Broken Heart
by Equinoxhawk
Summary: Alternate ending to the last episode. Beta Read by Kitty. Aerrow/Cyclonis pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** I wrote this story a long, long, long, long time ago. This was actually my story that I ever wrote. The first 3 chapters were beta read by Kitty, who I think goes by Saffronica612. You have both my thanks for editing this for me and encouraging me to be a better person. And my apologies for chickening out of posting it back then. Well here it is. If I get good reviews, I might post the rest of the unedited story. Unless someone wishes to edit it for me that would greatly appreciated.

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**Story Begins**

"Can you believe it—the sunrise looks exactly the same," Aerrow commented, partially to himself.

Today was the day. The day where the sky knights of all of Atmos, once again, came together to defeat the new Cyclonian forces. It had been two long years since the Storm Hawks were unofficially reformed and when the young Master Cyclonis took the throne to Cyclonia. During which time, the Storm Hawks were almost constantly interfering with her plans of ruling the Atmos. But now, having finally retrieved the oracle stone, she had gained access to the Far Side and its technology. Using it to outfit her Terra and Night Crawlers, it was only a matter of time before it was all decided—the fate of the world.

Flash to Cyclonia: while the Storm Hawks were creating and outfitting their small fleet, Talons, night crawlers and the Dark Ace were making the final preparations to the tower. Master Cyclonis sat atop her grand bed, surrounded by personal items, stroking them gently for perhaps the last time. She most of all realized how very tenuous the outcome. Their fate hung on a thread, on a number of uncontrollable, unpredictable variables, and it was just as likely that tomorrow she would be sitting on the throne of Atmos then her corpse would lie on the Waste—

She shook her head violently, trying to clear her mind, to prepare herself with what was about to go down. Despite her flaunted royalty, she was still a child. A child that was about to wage the final battle that would decide the fate of the Atmos.

She knew that those that came before her, were all great leaders of Cyclonia, with the confidence to win any battle, but she? She was the last, the last of her family. Her mother and father had been killed when she was little, her grandmother that she looked up to for guidance and was the last of her family died when she was 15. She grew up secluded in the tower, with no friends, just talons and servants who would one day look up to her as their leader. She was a queen, not a person. So much is on her shoulders, she not only had to avenge her family, but also lead all of Cyclonia? She didn't know... she didn't know if she could. Or why she was fighting sometimes, she had never killed anyone before and didn't ever want to. Sometimes she just wanted to run away, somewhere where there was no more killing, no orders to be given or the cold, harsh, icy mask she wore. Somewhere where she could be normal.

No matter what she did, she couldn't concentrate, couldn't come to terms with her doubts. Her thoughts slowly drifted to her arch nemesis...the Storm Hawks. Stork was paranoid and insane—she admired the first quality, but the latter destroyed any respect she might have for him, Finn was a complete joke, Junko was a toddler in a Wallop's body, Piper was too "good" and "cheerful" and _fakey_ (and the pain from her rejection ran too deep) and Aerrow. She both envied him and admired him at the same time. Every time they were in battle he was always confident and brave in his abilities and in his team, no matter in what situation he was in. He was always willing to sacrifice himself for others, yet always supported by his team... his friends. Yes, she was truly jealous of him for what he had: no qualms in the cause he was figting for.

A knock came from her door, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"Come in." Cyclonis said, annoyance evident in her voice. Slowly the door opened, revealing the Dark Ace. He stood awkwardly, knowing that Master Cyclonis loathed anyone entering her room, even with permission.

"It is time." he simply stated, then elaborated, "The first wave has already been deployed. The second wave is waiting on standby for your orders."

"Wait to see the outcome of the first wave. I want to see what Aerrow has put together to fight with... How is the storm canon going?"

"It is still yet to be operational," Dark Ace admitted. At the glare of frustration and disappointment from him empress, he quickly reassured her, "but I know it will be operational when the terra is air born."

"Make sure that it is!" she snarled, hurling some random object at him with her staff, but it went high, hitting the doorframe. Familiar with the queen's temper, he simply bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

Cyclonis sighed, regretful already. She knew the Dark Ace was the most loyal to her and he would not let her down, not if he could help it. Just as he served her grandmother, during her reign…she shook her head. He might be loyal, but he was hardly much of a true friend.

She had studied Machiavellian politics for years, and she ruled with an iron first of fear, right from the first day she sat on her throne. She understood that fear would keep them in line, that her reputation if not her actual persona would keep Cyclonia together; if the people found out she was not worthy to rule, if she was weak…it was unthinkable. She would never be able to keep the dreams of her grandmother and mother alive. She needed to, she promised herself she would, at any cost, the day everything that they had all left her here alone.

Her mind was still clouded by these random weedy thoughts, and she knew what she needed most right now: guidance. Slowly, she reached out for the item most precious to her, a sky blue crystal. Superficially it held an image of her and her grandmother, but with it accompanied a holographic program of her grandmother, the closest thing to her grandmother's presence. Cyclonis activated the crystal, revealing the projection of a fragile old woman, yet one glance at her posture and the glint in her eye revealed herself to be a ruler.

"Hello dear." said the elderly woman. The program, she reminded herself. Just the program. Her grandmother was dead.

"Hello Grandmother." She replied carefully.

"What is wrong my dear?" the crystal asked.

"Cyclonia is about to go to war." She stated, "and I don't know if I can lead them."

"Oh, my dear you can and you will. You are part of a great line of natural born leaders. It is in our blood to lead Cyclonia. You will not only lead them into battle, but you will also lead them to victory!" she said, slipping into the familiar skin—no, the programmed role—of giving Cyclonis a lecture. "You need to trust yourself, my dear. Listen to your heart, not your head, and you'll find what you need. "

Her heart? Where had that come from? She examined the crystal, but it seemed to be functioning properly. The woman—no, the program—sat patiently, waiting for another question, another impetus.

Slowly Cyclonis lowered the crystal, still wondering what her grandmother meant. But her grandmother was right, she is the last of the Cyclonises, she has to win this battle, if not for herself, than for her grandmother and mother, even if it meant using fear to accomplish it. She was still shaken up a bit by the machine—it seemed so real, she kept forgetting it was just a trinket, a bit of programming, nothing more. This was why she rarely used the crystal—it always messed with her head. She got off the bed, putting on her cloak, while waving the staff as each item returned to its proper place. She strided towards the control room, returning in her throne, her proper place.

"It's time." She proclaimed to everyone, a sinister edge to her voice. They all quickly nodded. She let out an evil laugh as the entire tower shook as the terra slowly lifted off the ground and into the air.

"For Cyclonia!" she screamed, then, to herself, whispered, "For grandmother and mother."

**Later...**

The battle exploded around them, skimmers plunging towards the Wasteland, destroyed, people from both sides screaming as they fell. The Sky Knights and the Condor were trying to distract as many Talons and Night Crawlers as they could, while the Storm hawks focused on taking down the tower.

"Piper!" screamed Aerrow over the roar of engines of their skimmers, "Any genius ideas to take this thing down?"

"I don't know," she shouted back. "She must be using the technology from the Far Side to give the gravity crystals more power!" She still could barely wrap her her head around the fact that Cyclonis had actually gotten the terra airborne. She had to think, think think…a glimmer from the sides of the terra caught her eyes, and suddenly, it hit her.

"There!" she yelled back to Aerrow, waving her finger at the elusive glimmers. "They look like levitation platoons. That's what's keeping the terra afloat!"

Aerrow veered his skimmer in a sharp right, peering towards it, firing, but his shots rebounded from some invisible force shield. In the few seconds it took him to realize what was happening, he barely had time enough to dodge the shots. The wind tore away his sigh of relief.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do! Finn, Junko!" he radioed, catching their attention, "try to destroy those crystals! Piper, you and I are going to go for their power source. That should drop the shields!" All of them swiftly nodded their heads, acknowledging their orders, then they split up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:  
><strong>This chapter was edited by Kitty, who goes by Saffronica612.

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**Inside the tower: Control Room.**

"Master Cyclonis." reported a Talon nervously. He had drawn the short straw as to bringing his empress news of the battle.

"What is it?" she hissed back at him, making his trembling more pronounced.

"I..I'ts... It's the Storm Hawks! They're targeting the… the levitation platoons!" He cringed, wondering if it would have been a better idea to hide in the dungeons with the rats than face her wrath bearing bad news.

She smirked, surprising him even more. Did she have some sort of special torture for messangers?

"Ahh finally, they're here."

She sounded quite pleased with herself, which rather confused the Dark Ace. "Send Night Crawlers after them. Dark Ace! Follow me," Cyclonis swiftly ordered, as she standing up. "When the Storm Canon is ready, start firing at will." She stalked towards to the corridors, Dark Ace in tail.

"Yes Master!" replied the commanders to her retreating back.

"Master Cyclonis. Why won't you let me join the fight against the Sky Knights?" Dark Ace whined as he caught up to her in the great hallway. "You know how eager I am to destroy that kid Aerrow!" He snarled, looking down, tightening his first. He didn't even want to think about how many times that kid slipped through his fingers.

"I know Dark Ace, that is precisely the opportunity I'm giving to you now." she smugly replied.

"I do not understand."

"I'm sure Aerrow and Piper have figured out by now that extra power is being used to increase the effects of the gravity crystals and shield," she explained, turning into a smaller side corridor that lead towards the power control room, "So obviously they would try and sneak into the tower and destroy what I brought back from the Far Side."

"Oh, I get it." He said, wondering how she came up with these things. Despite his fighting aptitude, times like these made him glad it was a mastermind like Cyclonis and not him who lead Cyclonia—too much planning and paperwork.

"Dark Ace, you're such an idiot sometimes." She snorted, rolling her eyes, as they reached their destination.

**Back in the Control room.**

"Commander Ravess," reported a Talon with fear. He heard rumors about bodies flung into the Wastelands when the severe magenta-haired woman was disappointed or irritated.

"What is it?" she replied coldly.

"The.. the storm canon is now operational." It was good news, he reminded himself. There was no news to be so scared.

"Excellent!" she said, calming his fears. "Let's test try it first."

"Fire it on the Condor!" yelled Snipe, playing the part of dumb brother perfectly.

"I agree!" called out Repton as he hissed away the Talon. "Take out that infernal ship!"

"Belay that!" ordered Ravess, just before they fired.

"What are you doing?" spat Repton.

"I want to see what the storm canon is capable of first before we destroy the Condor," she said, ignoring the stares from both Repton and Snipe. "Just think of the fear that we'll strike into the almighty Sky Knights! Once they see the firepower that we posses!"

"Fine!" hissed Repton, "Fire at will."

**Back outside with Finn and Junko.**

"Keep firing Junko!" yelled Finn as the wind whipped past him. "It'll go down eventually!" A high pitch noise and bright light all of a sudden filled the air, accompanied with the resounding boom and explosion, shock waves distorting the sky. The Storm Hawks looked up to see one of their battle cruisers come crashing down. "What the?" Finn stuttered, while Junko gaped, speechless. The sounds of weapons fire coming at them shook them out of their shock.

"Night Crawlers!" screamed Junko in warning. Quickly they both turned hard, barely dodging the crystal laser blasts. They streamed through the air, blurs of color, as Night Crawlers chased and fired at them. "How do we get ourselves into these situations?" he moaned.

**Back on the Condor.**

"What the hell was that?!" yelled out Stork, as he saw the battle cruiser beside them explode, plummeting down into the wastelands. Radar jumped up and down, schreeching in his foreign language, trying to convey how it had come from the tower.

The communications speakers between the ships blasted out "Retreat! We have retreat!"

"No!" Stork radioed back, "We have to give Aerrow and the team more time!"

"Our shields can't withstand firepower of that magnitude!"

"Move the battle ships into point blank range with the Cyclonian cruisers!"

"We won't last long against them!"

"We'll last a lot longer than if we go up against that beam weapon of theirs! And we might just take a few of them down with us!" Stork knew it was a long shot, fighting at such close range with Cyclonian cruisers, but he needed to give Aerrow more time. "We're so doomed."

**Back inside the Tower with Aerrow and Piper.**

"Piper, are we there yet?" asked Aerrow as they quickly, silently sneaked down the hallways of the tower. She had mapped their course to avoid as many guards as possible, but he was afraid of getting lost in the labyrinth of identical corridors.

"Almost," replied Piper as she peered into the next hallway. "I wonder why we haven't seen anybody. I mean, you'd think Cyclonis would set up _some_ guards."

"Everyone's probably busy with the battle outside," whispered Aerrow, but he too felt something was suspiciously wrong. "Either that or they already know we're here."

"That's a scary thought... Here, around this corner. The room inside should be what we're looking for," Piper stated as she peered around the corner. "No guards."

"Something's definitely going on," Aerrow murmured as he took out his blades. Piper took out her staff as well.

The doors slid open as they both leapt in the room, weapons swinging, ready for anything, but there was not a soul in sight. In fact they were shocked by what they saw: a giant, pulsating blood red crystal, suspended in the air by four other glowing stones. All seemed to have grown out of it, attached into the ground.

"I've never seen anything like it!" gasped Piper. She slowly walked towards it, amazed and horrified, as Aerrow gaped. "This must be what Cyclonis brought back from the Far Side! This is what's giving the gravity crystals and shields extra power!"

"Very good, Piper!" snarled Cyclonis, appearing out of seemingly thin air with her henchman, the Dark Ace. Aerrow and Piper whirled around, weapons extended. "Excellent observation! Just as I expected from you!" exclaimed Cyclonis, treating them to her trademark sinister smile and chuckle.

"Master Cyclonis!" growled Piper, with staff and crystals at the ready.

"Dark Ace!" shouted Aerrow, prepared to fight.

"Aerrow!" the Dark Ace shot back, sneering. "So good to see you again. Too bad it'll be the last!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:  
><strong>This chapter was edited by Kitty, who goes by Saffronica612.

**CHAPTER THREE:**

As if on cue, the battle began. Aerrow, as always, fought the Dark Ace while Piper leapt at Master Cyclonis. All one could see of Aerrow and the Dark Ace were their blades, streaks of fluorescent red and blue that clashed with sparks. As if they knew this combat would be their last, they fought better than ever before: Aerrow used his advantage as the faster one, while the Dark Ace relied on his strength and experience. Their difference in skill was very slim as they both vied for the advantage.

The battle between the girls was very different, filled with exploding crystals, determined by not physical strength but knowledge and willpower. Their technique was similar, though, and after shooting a blast from a Paralyzer, the energy deflected and hit the Power Crystal from the Far Side. For some reason unknown to both of them the giant blood-red crystal energy absorbed and redirected it, sending an energy wave hitting everyone in the room.

Aerrow and Master Cyclonis slowly got up, clutching their heads, then they saw both their partners, sprawled unconscious on the ground. They shared a glance, understanding the fight was done for the moment, then both ran to their respective fallen comrades.

"Piper!" Aerrow sobbed, cradling her in her arms. "Piper! Piper, get up!" But she gave no response. With his heightened senses, he could hear Cyclonis involved in a similar process with Dark Ace.

"You have to wake up! Don't leave me alone!" she cried Cyclonis. Aerrow could hardly believe the tears he saw trickling down her pale face; he was watching the most feared person in all of Atmos cry. Breaking the silence, the communication system activated with Ravess's blasting the voice.

"Master Cyclonis! The storm canon has overloaded! The energy is feeding back into the power crystal!" A loud crack sound caught their attention. Aerrow glanced at the now-pulsing red crystal crystal, and it was beginning to fracture.

"Mas-" the radio suddenly cut off, and the light faded in and out. The entire tower shook. Aerrow instantly knew what was happening: the entire terra was falling from the sky.

"No, No, No!" screamed Cyclonis. Aerrow turned towards her; she slowly backing up against the wall, crawling on her hands and knees, and she looked frantic. Then, she looked directly at him, and he saw something, something deep within her purple eyes. He didn't see her usual evil persona, insanely bent on ruling the world; he saw a child, a scared, lonely child who didn't know what to do or how everything got so messed up. For the first time, he actually felt sorry for her. He slowly got up and moved towards her, some strange notion of helping her in his mind.

Suddenly, her head whipped towards his motion, and it irrationally scared her. Was he going to kill her? End it all now? She didn't know... she didn't know. The only thing she was certain of was she was so terrified of the idea of dying.

"Stay away!" she screamed hysterically, but he kept moving towards her, slowly and steadily. "Stay Away From Me!"

**Flash Back:**

The little girl walked into her parents' room. She knew it was _private_, and she required _permission _to enter, but she had knocked several times with no answer.

"Mama? Papa?" she whispered as she peered through the crack. The place looked like a mess, so unlike her usual neat-freak parents. She slowly tiptoed into the room, wondering what happened. Slowly, she turned towards the bed, and a scream was strangled in her throat. She droped the crystal in her hands, as it shatterred on the ground. Blood was everywhere, dripping off the bed and on to the floor, she couldn't see anything else, just the blood, but there laid the mangled bodies of her parents, like some ghastly vision from a nightmare. She remembered wishing that she could just wake up.

Suddenly, she noticed a man standing in the corner, and unfortunately, he noticed her too. She tried to scamper away, but he beat her to the door. "Stay Away!" was all she could say, as she was backed into the corner, behind a table. "Stay Away From Me!" she screamed, but he still stalked forward, glowing crystal blade dripping blood still clutched tightly in his hand.

**End Flash Back.**

Aerrow inched forward, unaware of what was speeding through her mind. She frantically looked around for anything, then she caught sight of a purple crystal on the ground.

Cyclonis lunged for it, then grabbed the Dark Ace, activating it, disappearing, leaving the nightmarish scene behind. Leaving Aerrow completely speechless with had just unfolded in front of him. Explosions could be heard throughout the tower as Finn and Junko destroyed the remaining gravity crystals. Aerrow realized once again that the entire place was going down.

"mm... What happened?" moaned Piper as she slowly sat up.

Aerrow sprinted to her side."We have to get out of here. The entire terra is going down!" he shouted, rushing her towards the door, back to the skimmers, all the time her leaning on him for support.

**Back with Cyclonis.**

Cyclonis had used the crystal to teleport to the infirmary. She knew if the place was coming down, this section would survive. Quickly she got the Dark Ace onto one of the beds, but it seemed everyone—doctors, nurses, and staff—had left for fear of their lives. Cyclonis had failed, she couldn't avenge her parents... she didn't lead Cyclonia to victory... she didn't win... She thought as she collapsed on the ground, curling into a ball, she felt cold, she felt alone, then it came to her.

"I need more," she whispered as she got up. "I need more power." Grabbing her staff, she quickly floated out into hallway, rushing towards the chamber that held the doorway to the Far Side.


End file.
